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Friday, September 16, 2011

Road Warrior

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geek.com

﻿One of the stations that we work out of is actually our own. We inherited it when a new station was built down the street from us. This station is old. I mean really, really old. It was an old house that was converted to a fire station back in the 80’s. It has a garage in the back for the engine and a driveway on the side with a gate that you could squeeze in a few cars. This thing had 2 tiny bedrooms, a bathroom, and the main room of the house that we manage to fit a desk, kitchen table, recliners, couch, and TV. In the garage was all the gym equipment. Everything in that station was a knick-knack of items pilfered donated from other stations and a few we don’t know where it came from since it looks like it was put there in the 80’s and has never moved since.

Because of where the station is located a lot of local police officers stop by to take a break, eat lunch, finish paperwork, or hit the head (bathroom for you non-military folks). We have a great working relationship with the police department because of the huge range of calls we cover has us working with them a lot.

One night while at this little old station I was flipping through TV channels while my partner was taking a nap. I get a phone call requesting us for a coyote house. The local police had busted a house full of illegals and were busy sorting through all the people to find the smugglers. When a house gets raided they usually try to pretend that they are one of the illegals thus requiring the officers to diligently search through and question each person. They asked us to respond because it had been a few hours and would be several more and they wanted the illegals checked out and water, snacks, and blankets provided for those who needed it. The location was on the corner of a street in the middle of a housing development. When we arrived there was cop cars parked willy nilly everywhere. No offense to any police officers out there but you guys suck when it comes to parking at calls. I know from personal experience. It makes it a nightmare for me to drive to the scene since I am usually the last one to arrive.

There was no way I was going to be able to get to where I needed to go. The entrance was the only way in and out of this part of the development. While figuring a way in an officer walked up and we got out and started talking about what was going on. My partner then came up with this great idea. “I got it. You drive over the curb, go over the gravel to there, go between the power poles, down that hill, and over the curb on the other side. Easy.” See the picture to get an idea of the power poles she was talking about.

I looked at her, at the two monster power poles, the hill, the route she said was easy and looked at her again. I started laughing thinking she was joking but it quickly died when I realized she was serious. “Are you Crazy!!! Uh Uh. No way. I ain’t gonna do it.” I handed her the keys and said that I would spot her while she drove but there was no way I was doing it.

The officer standing there started laughing at me. “You to chicken to do it?”

“Me, chicken. Hell no!” I told him that she had been on the unit a long time. I was brand new and still on probation so if I got even one scratch I would be mired in paperwork up to my teeth for a week. She could get away with it, not me.

I stood alongside and spotted her as she started her drive. It was nerve wracking with her slipping and sliding with gravel spitting everywhere. I noticed as we went along we were gaining an audience. When we got to the other side several officers gave us an applause.

She did an incredible job of driving. Wish I could post pictures of the location to give you a better idea of what was involved but can’t for legal reasons. Best I could do was post a picture of the type of power poles that she had to drive between.